A Bridge to the Past

PennDOT's Historic Truss Bridge Management Plan

As part of our mission to both maintain a safe and efficient transportation network and to care for Pennsylvania's transportation heritage, PennDOT has developed a management plan for the Commonwealth's population of historic metal truss bridges. The effort began in 2012 by gathering a list of all extant historic metal truss bridges that are part of PennDOT’s Bridge Management System. This was followed by the development of preservation assessments on all bridges that could benefit by an assessment of preservation potential, followed by a planning phase that evaluated the needs of these crossings and sought to determine the likelihood that the bridge could be rehabilitated and/or maintained to meet those needs. Additional components of the plan included an effort to develop a manual on appropriate tools and techniques for the preservation and maintenance of this population of bridges, and an effort to develop guidance for the adaptive reuse of those bridges that cannot meet the long term vehicular needs of these crossings.

The management plan was completed in the Fall of 2017 following the completion of the planning phase. However, implementation of the management plan is on-going and is necessarily a continuous effort. A primary component of the implementation phase is seeking specialized funding to assist in the preservation of these bridges whether it be for continued vehicular use or for adaptive use in a public setting.

This page features links to the components of our Historic Metal Truss Bridge Management Plan.

We need your help in implementing this important initiative. Please take the time to review the plan components and share your suggestions, comments and ideas with us. You can address your comments to Kara Russell, our lead Architectural Historian via email at krussell@pa.gov or by phone at (717) 705-1484.